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Katja Kryzanowski
A career marine, whose adventures in the Æster Rescue Service made her a household name, Katja is popularly renowned as Major Kryzanowski. The radiant, newspapers and publishers of dime novels made her famous, following her real-life exploits as an officer in the ARS, swinging into action to save imperiled lives in the violent and dangerous reaches of the Æster. Time and again, she survived and led her valiant team of men and women through impossible situations to return not only alive, but with a cargo of precious survivors in tow. No fiction could possibly match the truth of her life’s story and that of the red-coated Æster Rescue Marines. Her compelling story enthralled the imaginations of thousands, not just because of the job she did, as that would not have set her apart for such glory. What made Major Kryzanowski so famous was the unflinching resolve of the real woman behind the legend, Katja Kryzanowski. Katja had always been an incredible beauty. In several candid conversations and interviews, she revealed how she had always viewed her pulchritude as a detriment, and that she had to work incredibly hard as a cadet to prove she was more than just a pretty girl. During her first tour, an Æster Mad crewman with an axe changed that forever. After almost two years of personal struggle, she returned to the Rescue Service, one of only five members that service returning to duties after cashiered for injuries. This dedication distinguished her as something special in the Rescue Service…whose members wear the wings of angels as their badge. The scarred and pugnacious lieutenant first became famous in the ranks of the Rescue Service, then the Marines as a whole, then the Navy. By the time her fame was noted by a radiant reporter on a routine tour of Æster marine bases, she had risen to the rank of Major. Her meteoric rise in rank from lieutenant to major in eight years was unheard of anywhere save during a war. It was her single-handed leadership during a rescue of marines trapped aboard an enemy vessel that finally brought her into the spotlight. When the press discovered that a woman from the Rescue Service was to receive the Victoria Cross, they descended in droves on the ceremony. From that moment hence, the press began to dig into who this woman was. Her legend was born. By the time she received the Victoria Cross, her list of awards for gallantry was enough to make a wartime general blush. Through investigating her exploits, the press discovered a window into the Rescue Service itself. This view into the wholly remarkable life of Major Kryzanowski is what created the fame of the Rescue Marines. Over the next five years, Major Kryzanowski was pulled from active duty on three different occasions to fulfill her role as public face for the Rescue Services and fulfill the role of hero to the public. She excelled at presenting the perfect military officer at these engagements, but she privately railed at being sidelined from her actual duties. A year later, a simple wound she received from torn metal became septic. She was hospitalized for over a month while she fought off the infection. The Admiralty determined at that time that she would not return to active shipboard duty. Her value to the public image of the Rescue Service specifically and the Royal Æster Navy were too great to risk the rigors of her chosen profession. At 41, she was removed from shipboard rotation and given the rank of Colonel. She transferred to the Æster Rescue Academy as an instructor, becoming a powerful force as an expert and frequent speaker in Parliament on æster safety reforms and the role of the Rescue Service. It was during one of her testimonials in Parliament that she was introduced to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel. The easy camaraderie shared by the Prince and the Colonel was observed by many as days passed between sessions of Parliament. Over several years, the two were seen together on more frequent occasion, and roused talk in some of the social papers. Entirely mute on the subject, the Colonel frustrated the social press, only fueling the rumors. When their engagement was finally announced, the press unleashed their pent up frustrations and went wild with the story. Colonel Kryzanowski's unassailable calm remained steadfast throughout the entire public ordeal. She was always cordial, direct and made it abundantly clear when subjects were off the table without so much as raising her voice at any time. Rumors of thunderous rows between the couple in the months before the wedding were the only chip in the veneer of the couple's relationship. The situation that could have been disastrous in the public eye only endeared the couple to the public and Colonel Kryzanowski in particular, when the real reason for these rumored arguments was brought to light. The greatest contention centered on her demand that the wedding be held in military fashion; instead of a dress, she would be wed in her dress uniform. The strangely fairytale quality of the engagement between two veteran soldiers captured and enraptured the public. Some saw a modern romantic twist in a tempestuous relationship between the common soldier and the Prince. After the wedding the court buzzed with tales of the strange courtship and marriage for well over a year. Colonel Kryzanowski now splits her time between the Æster Rescue Academy outside London and Australia, where she continues as a most influential voice in Parliament, speaking on matters of æster safety. Her frequent speaking tours bring her to St. Louis and other cities of light around the world. Rumblings persist of a promotion to Brigadier and an assignment as Commandant of the Æster Rescue Academy. Other rumors hint that she may take on duties of the Kings Advisor on Military Æster Affairs, a posting that would certainly put her and Prince Friedrich more often in one another's company. As one Royal watcher observed about the now famous rows between she and Prince Friedrich, "These things happen between two strong-willed people such as they are. It seems there must always be battle between these soldiers before the gentler pursuits of couples can take place."